18. Beaumarchais bankrupted himself through Hortalez et Cie
By the end of 1777, Beaumarchais had spent over 15 million livres for goods shipped to America. During the same time frame, he received absolutely nothing in payment from the Americans. His investors saw nothing in return for the substantial sums they had paid. Before the end of 1777, he petitioned Vergennes three separate times for loans from the royal treasury to prevent bankruptcy and allow him to continue operations. All three times Vergennes complied, with personal loans which drove the formerly wealthy Beaumarchais deeply into debt. Yet he continued to send goods to the Americans.
When Silas Deane could not explain his country’s reticence to make any form of payment Beaumarchais sent Theveneau de Francy, a close personal friend, to America to investigate. What Francy discovered was a raft of issues, some of which were Congress had no money, no authority to tax, and little interest in resolving the issue. It could not levy the crops which could be accepted as payment. It could not levy anything. Congress could borrow money, but it had so little that it couldn’t pay its troops. The situation was so dire that Congress simply ignored the obligations owed to Beaumarchais. The lack of money was, however, not the only reason the Frenchman was not paid.